LuAnn is coming to South Dakota!

No, no, no, not this Luann .... (by Greg Evans)

THIS LuAnn! (by Frank Bolle and Lisa Trusiani)

(I have to laugh at the look of concern that comes over Tommie's face as South Dakota is mentioned! Perhaps she thinks the Badlands are really BAD!)

In South Dakota, we don't get the comic strip Apartment 3G in the Argus Leader, nor the Daily Republic, etc. I happened to know about it thanks to the snarky commentary over at "The Comics Curmudgeon" blog. The strip is about the goings on with three roomates and it's a soap opera type storyline like Rex Morgan and Mary Worth.

One can't help but get a kick out of ol' Margo McGee and her selfish antics. Redheaded Tommie resides at A3G, her bland life is picking up with a little romance once in awhile. Blonde and naive roomate LuAnn is a painter who is realizing some success and who has a druggie boyfriend, Alan. (LuAnn doesn't realize he's a druggie, BTW.) She also has hick-type relatives. so I laughed out loud when the storyline now places LuAnn as FROM SOUTH DAKOTA. It appears LuAnn comes from a ranch, which does place her West River. I'll be eyeing the research that the writer/cartoonists do about the adventures.

Access to 60 Comic Strips Online

I get my "Pearls Before Swine", "9 Chickweed Lane", "Apt. 3G" (curse you Comics Curmudgeon), and "Funky Winkerbean" fix on the Chron site -- but they don't feature the Sunday comics. Well, HELLO Times Union! You choose one of the linked comics, then click by the comic title to the "See More Comics" button. There's others out there I've been wanting to read -- like "Pajama Diaries". There's also "Six Chix", where six female cartoonists contribute to the panel and "Tina's Groove" where Rina Piccolo also contributes. (She is one of the Six Chix.)



It's nice to get to read other comic strips and especially nice to see there are other female cartoonists/comic strip artists out there. It's sad that newspapers are decreasing or cutting them ... because one can get their news from t.v., the Internet, etc. ... but the comics are one of those things you like to glance over while slurping on your coffee in the a.m. or reading on the couch with your kids.

Goodbye Lisa

Personally, I have mixed emotions about Funky Winkerbean. I used to love it, especially with all the education humor, then it got just downright, wrist-splitting depressing.

This last arc really hit me though, it reminded me of the untimely deaths of two friends of mine. Both diagnosed with breast cancer in their thirties. I guess Lisa's death happening in October with breast cancer awareness is right and appropriate. With that in mind, ladies, get those annual mammos and look at research -- some saying limiting your red meat and alcohol intake.

It's interesting in FW that Les and the strip has now aged four years. Let's hope Wally is back safe and sound from his service in Afghanistan.

New Comic Strip - Biographics by Steve McGarry

Here's the link to preview his strip.

Pretty neat, there's Flash Animation for those who read their strips on the web, and there's a print version.